Shinobi are Soldiers
by Kyuubi666
Summary: The third shinobi world war has not ended. The elemental nations now live in an age of strife and war. Konoha has been forced to let go of its peaceful lives and has become a militarized village. Namikaze Naruto is born with high expectations on him as both the son of the Yondaime Hokage and the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. And only he can end the war, by any means necessary.


Shinobi are Soldiers Chapter 1

**AN**: Please, put down the knives and the bats… and that chair; let's have a calm, peaceful, _non-violent_ discussion about my long absence. Well firstly my excuse is, no my valid, _very_ _valid_ reason would be that I've just been so busy with school. Balancing school, work, a social life, my family and my girlfriend is just extremely time consuming. Only because we're having a week long break from school right now that I was able to squeeze in some precious hours to write this new story.

Right! A new story! Well I sincerely apologize to all those who have been looking forward to the next chapter of The Hero's Brother and Shadow of the Snake, but I've just been so plagued by this concept that I have not been able to rest easy without writing a few sentences every day. Not only that, I've taken to writing in my notebook (Which I use for school) new ideas that I come up with during class. So if you flipped through my notebook, one would see random scribbles amidst my biology notes or even half way when I'm copying down notes I would suddenly stop and quickly note down a cool new idea I had, which explains the numerous interrupted sentences.

So please, enjoy what I've managed to squeeze out amongst the precious moments of free time. And please don't mind the chapter which might seem a tad bit fragmented as I could only write like a few hundred words every time I had time.

* * *

"We've lost sector 34A."

A myriad of voices murmured right after their leader's announcement.

"Sector 34A? That's one of our biggest armories!" One indignant voice cried out. "A legion of our finest were garrisoned there to guard it, how could we have lost it!"

"How? I would rather know who! So we can get them back!" A burly man exclaimed after slamming his fist on the table. At this, the whispers became even louder, the noises resembling more like shouts in a busy market place rather than a military meeting.

"Enough!" The stern and cutting voice interrupted everyone as the speaker stood up. "Akimichi-dono is right, we might have lost the Kurogane Warehouse, but it can, no it will be taken back." Satisfied that his statement silenced the room, the figure sat back down.

The speaker was young; only 27 years of age yet commanded with an awe-inspiring tone that cowed men twice his age. His trademark spiky blonde hair and blue eyes were famous within Konohagakure. Anyone who saw them recognized the owner to be the Yondaime Hokage. War hero and one of the few SS-ranked shinobi in the world, there was none who could call themselves equal to Minato Namikaze.

"Messenger summons were sent back here when the fighting started, details remain unclear but what we know for certain is…" He leaned forward, narrowed his eyebrows and gritted his teeth, "It was the joint work of both Iwagakure and Kumogakure."

At this the shouting started again.

"Iwa and Kumo? Are they in an Alliance? We're doomed!"

"When were they allies? We must prepare the village-" "Yes! Reinforce the walls, send more guards, recall all our forces, ration our food-"

The blond man who spoke with authority raised his hand and at once there was silence again.

"It is impossible for there to be an alliance between those two villages. They have too many differences, and still hostile with each other. It would be foolish for an alliance to be struck between them now. We reckon that they must have had an agreement beforehand, splitting the spoils between the two villages." At this there was a huge heave of relief from most in the room.

"However, it worries me that Iwa and Kumo could put their differences aside even for a moment to work together, _against us._ What's stopping them from doing it again?"

Hyuuga Hiashi stood up at that, "How do we know this is the first time they've done so? We've been steadily losing ground over the years, slowly but surely, inch by inch, we are being pushed back. This might be the first major loss we've had for years but everyone knows of the numerous _minor_ defeats we have sustained. A stark contrast against the decreasing number of victories we have had! What's to be done about this?"

A man with raven black hair opposite him stood up as well "Well the first thing you could do, _Hyuuga,_ would be to shut up and sit down!"

Hiashi bristled at his comment, "Uchiha! I have had enough of you and your inferior clan!" A kunai slid out from his robe and the man poised in a battle stance.

Seeing the unsheathed weapon, the two Uchiha shinobi, clad in black with the symbol of a red and white fan emblazoned on their shoulder pad, standing behind Fugaku drew their katanas which prompted the two behind Hiashi to settle into their Jyuuken fighting stance.

The tense atmosphere seemed ready to burst into combat, evaporated at an intense wave of killing intent sent forth by the Yondaime. "This is not the Ninja Academy, nor is this the time for a schoolyard brawl! Calm yourselves or I'll do it for you."

If the killing intent was not enough to intimidate the two rivaling clan heads, the cold edge to Minato's words did. Reluctantly standing down, the two clan heads sat down, temporarily subdued. Minato internally sighed, the war have made everyone so nervous, what with attempted assassinations on authority figures, that even within the village, people in positions of power took bodyguards with them everywhere they went, even to a war meeting conducted by the Hokage himself.

"There is truth in what Hyuuga-dono has said. It is fact that Konoha has been slowly losing ground over time, but for every acre of land they tear away from our nation, a hundred of their men are taken by us!" A roar of approval resounded in the room.

"Try as they must to tear off the leaves of our great tree, but our roots are deep and strong, no matter what they do, for each leaf that has fallen, we take ten of theirs with us! Yet the difference lies in that we will always come back, stronger than ever! And eventually, they will have run out of rocks and pebbles to throw at our great tree, while we will have swallowed them whole!" Loud cheering and a frightful war cry followed and even Minato had trouble calming them down from that. It was important to rouse their spirits in war meetings, where Minato had direct interaction with heads of clans and commanding officers. The war has made everyone tense and fearful; Minato did all he could to light up everyone's will of fire.

"Currently, none of the villages have made any serious movements individually; why? Because they are afraid… for they know that they can do nothing by themselves against us. This is why they resort to flimsy agreements to work together against us. We could have long marched out and crushed them, pitiful as they are, however the losses due to the Kyuubi's attack still stings, and our village is still vulnerable. Which is why I will impose a new policy, from now on every child of age 7 must be enlisted into the ninja academy. They will then graduate in three years. The current shinobi curriculum has been scrapped. Useless subjects like conducting tea ceremonies or high etiquette has been removed. From now on the Ninja Academy will be much more focused on _actual_ shinobi work."

"I have personally come up with a new curriculum for the academy, with help from several others. You will read about all the changes in the report, but there will be a few important points to note. One of the few new additions to the academy will be… Kunoichi training."

Minato let his words sink it for a few moments before a man with long blonde hair growled out "Absolutely not! This is insanity, Hokage-sama! I have a 5 year old daughter, and are you telling me that she will grow up to learn how to be a prostitute!"

"Insanity?" Minato narrowed his eyes, "No this is not insanity, Yamanaka-dono. This is war. And no, young Ino will not grow up to be a prostitute. However, seduction is a crucial skill that needs to be taught-"

"To children!?" Inoichi hissed. He looked around and spotted a feral-looking woman. "Inuzuka-dono, you're a woman, you must see the error in this!"

Inuzuka Tsume, took on a contemplative pose for a moment before looking back at Inoichi. "I support the reenactment of Kunoichi training." Before the Yamanaka clan head could protest, she continued, "I understand your concerns, Yamanaka-dono, I too have a daughter. However, we are shinobi. What we do, we do it for the village. And I believe the benefits of Kunoichi training will greatly outweigh whatever moral high ground there is."

Inoichi looked shocked before slumping back down, muttering to himself, "_Insanity… this is insanity…"_

Minato cleared his throat to get everyone's attention, "There'll be no further discussion on this issue, I have already made my decision. The next change will be the addition of more teachers to the academy. Right now, though we are not suffering from a lack of capable shinobi teaching our next generation, it isn't sufficient neither. Our future generation of shinobi will benefit much more with increased one-on-one attention from teachers. Birth-rates are hard to change especially in the warring era right now, and there won't be a sudden surplus of battle-ready shinobi ready to join our ranks, therefore we are going for quality over quantity here."

"In addition, those who are unable to meet the passing requirements to become genin at the end of their third year, will be given a choice. To move out of Konohagakure or go in to the Shinobi boot camp. The shinobi boot camp is a 6 months intense and extreme training camp that will force out every single scrap of talent and maximize their use as a shinobi." Minato cursed himself mentally, how he hated using the words use and shinobi together. But he was given no choice, war was unforgiving, so he had to be as well.

"There are more changes that I will spare everyone's time by not reciting them all now. Again, you can read about the rest on the reports." Minato looked around the room to search for any uncertain expressions. "If there are no other concerns, you're dismissed."

* * *

Minato walked through the empty streets of Konoha, only bright lamps illuminated every corner of the path to home. That and multiple spotlights that swung around on the towers erected from the walls that surrounded Konoha. The streets were silent, except for the occasional footsteps of shinobi on patrol and barks from the ninken, provided by the Inuzuka clan, which helped sniff out intruders.

Ever since the escalation of the third shinobi world war, Konohagakure had imposed a strict curfew that confined civilians and genin-ranked shinobi from wandering outside their homes. Even higher ranked shinobi were stopped and questioned for their purpose outside their homes. Without valid reason or documentation, they would be arrested and brought to the T&I department.

Ah, the T&I, torture and interrogation, Konoha's other side that civilians did not know about. It was already a cruel and harsh place before the war started, now, it would be revolting for anyone who wasn't familiar with them.

The empty streets were not exactly bustling with life in the day neither. Once the war had worsened, civilians that could not contribute to Konoha were forced to leave. Resources were scarce, especially with trade being interrupted by war. It was impossible for them to watch over the population Konoha had before, thus extremely reducing the amount of mouths to feed. Not that food was a problem for Konoha as they had large amounts of fertile land, so farming was not a problem. Food supplies were plenty, yet caution was still being taken of course. However despite having a surplus of food, exports from other countries were not as readily available as before.

Which is why weapons and other metals were being rationed as Tsuchi no Kuni, being the largest exporter of minerals and ores had the highest surplus of weapons while other countries had to recycle them. If not for the fact that Tetsu no Kuni had a direct trade route to Konoha, being a neighboring country to Hi no Kuni, Konoha would have already had a shortage of weapons now. That is why that trade route and every caravan that brings Konoha supplies are heavily guarded. They have had more than a few attacks on that trade route but the valiant shinobi of Konoha bled and died for it and protected it every single time.

Minato had lied during that meeting. The loss of that armory, which most likely has already been stripped clean by now, was akin to cutting off a large branch of the great tree that was Konoha. The loss of hundreds and thousands of high grade chakra conductive weapons crafted from the best in Tetsu no Kuni itself worth millions of ryo, was going to be a painful one for a while.

But it was important to keep morale up, especially the influential leaders of Konoha whose mindset affected those around them, especially the shinobis who were in the frontlines, even right now, striving for their lives and for their village.

The war has already been ongoing for years, without accurate prediction of when it will actually end. Peace seemed like an unlikely conclusion to this conflict, and his dreams and hopes of ending the war which started even before he was a genin slowly diminished and now it was but a flicker of naïve hope. It was wishful thinking for him to actually believe the might of one man could make a difference.

Years ago when he had decimated a third of Iwagakure's forces in an instant had the opposite effect of what he intended. His objective was to end the conflict with one swift display of his strength and crush Iwagakure's spirit, but instead the massacre had only strengthened the resolve of every citizen of Tsuchi no Kuni. They retaliated with spite and the war only intensified. Determined to take his head, and raze Konoha to the ground, Iwagakure was the largest voice in the Third Shinobi World War, spear heading the conflict in the elemental nations.

Minato narrowed his eyes and tightened his fists, if they wanted his head they could come get it. And if they wanted a war, he would give them one. If the cost of submission was the lives of every Konoha citizen, then they would rather fight to the bitter end and let death drag them kicking and screaming.

But the toll on all the nations was accumulating, tormenting every hidden village with a shortage of war potential. Young shinobi were sent out to their deaths every day and thrown on to the battlefield absent choice, losing their short lives. But the stronger ones lived, and grew even stronger with every battle. He survived his battles and became the strongest shinobi in Konoha. His numerous battle scars documented his rise to Hokage, a monument to his success.

Yet despite all this, the end to the conflict seemed too far away to even comprehend. Shinobi are soldiers now, and it would be impossible to state otherwise without lying.

The current status of the war is as follows**. (You're gonna need to refer to a map of the elemental nations to follow this**. **Trust me**. You can find a link to the one I used when writing this chapter in my profile, or go google it yourself.**)**

Over the years Iwagakure with its superior numbers and the winner on the war of attrition was able to allow Tsuchi no Kuni to swallow up and consume several other smaller countries. Kuma no Kuni(Bear Country), Yama no Kuni(Mountain Country) and Kiba no Kuni(Fang Country) were conquered and the hidden villages within these countries, Hoshigakure(Hidden Star Village) and Kasumigakure(Hidden Haze Village), was assimilated by Iwagakure. Currently, Iwagakure is in conflict with Konohagakure over Kusa no Kuni(Grass Country) and Kusagakure(Hidden Grass Village), with the hidden village in the grass leaning slightly towards Konoha's enemies. They were also in conflict with Sunagakure over Tsume no Kuni(Claw Country), having fierce battles against the sand forces.

Takigakure(Hidden Waterfall Village) and Taki no Kuni(Waterfall country) has had a peace and war treaty with Konohagakure since the beginning, which meant there was a non-confrontational pact between the villages and a pledge to assist each other if attacked. Amegakure(Hidden Rain Village) was content with being perfectly neutral in the war, and no one would dare provoke them, fearing the might of Hanzo the Salamander and his terrifying Amegakure troops.

Kawa no Kuni(River Country) was under a joint command by Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni. A flimsy agreement written on paper that allowed non-hostility by both armies on Kawa no Kuni soil.

Despite what reports said, however, Konohagakure wasn't doing that badly neither. Early on in the war, Konoha had taken over Men no Kuni(Noodles Country) and Cha no Kuni(Tea Country). This was because Konoha had no other competitors for these two countries, and thus was easily able to subsume them. With these two fertile countries, Konoha had a surplus of food. This also resulted in Konoha's dominance over the southern seas, having the most fearsome navy amongst the hidden villages, aside from Kirigakure of course. This lead to complete control over the Kanashii Ocean as well as the Hanguri Gulf.

Not only that, Konohagakure had also absorbed Beikoku no Kuni(Rice Country) and Onsen no Kuni(Hotsprings Country) along with Onsengakure. Minato smirked internally. It was fortunate and also strategic thinking that allowed them to have almost a monopoly on the staple foods of the elemental nations, as well as having control and being able to trade massive amounts of food items. As such many of the countries despite being officially hostile with Hi no Kuni and Konoha, had heavy contracts and bonds for large supplies of food for trade, absent choice of course. This deals also benefited Konohagakure greatly as well.

Having that large supply of food also meant that Kaze no Kuni and Sunagakure depended heavily on them for food, which resulted in a peaceful yet still tense situation between Konoha and them.

Kaminari no Kuni however had been a less forceful foe to reckon with and much more subdued as compared to Konoha and Iwa. They had only taken over Shimo no Kuni(Frost Country) and the hidden village within it, Shimogakure (Hidden Frost Village).

Kirigakure was the least greedy of all five great villages. Not only have they not reached outwards to assimilate other countries and other hidden villages, the bloodthirsty hidden mist merely strengthened their defenses and basically claimed the seas around their country along with the Kaizoku Sea. Their naval forces were so strong and feared; there has never been a single attempt to attack Mizu no Kuni, because to even reach their shores, one had to first cross an ocean lined with armadas of ships filled to the brim with bloodthirsty Kiri nin who were playing on their home ground, surrounded by water for their Suiton Ninjutsu.

Currently, Iwagakure had basically declared war on all of the five great villages; however their efforts were only focused on Sunagakure, Konohagakure and sometimes Kumogakure; though that fluctuated occasionally.

Konoha is mainly fighting Iwagakure, however having a fluctuation of minor and serious clashes against Kumogakure and Kirigakure while maintaining reserved relations with Sunagakure.

Sunagakure was in conflict with Iwagakure and sometimes Konohagakure when either overstepped their boundaries, and ignored Kumogakure and Kirigakure who have not done anything to slight them.

Kumogakure was mainly in conflict with Kirigakure and Konohagakure, due to their arbitrary boundaries that led to disputes.

And finally Kirigakure fought against Kumogakure who often intruded into their seas and Konohagakure as they felt threatened by their acquisition of Men no Kuni which was extremely close to their own borders.

This is the current third shinobi world war.

* * *

The lights within the Namikaze estate were still on, causing Minato to raise an eyebrow. He was not concerned over the possibility of an intruder nor did he even consider the possibility. The seals that covered his walls ensured that only a few people could enter and exit at ease, anyone else that tried and with malicious intent, would be killed by the protective seals. No, the bright lights only meant one thing.

Entering the dojo, Minato could see a small blonde child wearing a white _gi_ going through taijutsu katas and fighting invisible enemies. A swift kick into the air only provided the momentum for a jumped spinning kick downwards that would have devastated another five year old opponent. Sweat dripped from his damp blonde spikes and onto the hardwood floors, joining the small puddle that was already forming around the boy. It would have been adorable to see a five year old child practicing so hard and sweating so much.

Minato felt his stomach twist as he cursed himself for the contempt that rose from the sight of the child. It has already been 5 years, yet not one day could he pass without looking at this child… his son… and not see what could have been if not for his birth. His beautiful wife Kushina would still be alive, and he would not have lost her to maternal death. He had tried, so hard every day, and _has _made significant progress. For instance he no longer considered strangling the infant who had caused him so much pain. Yes, he was a terrible person to even consider that, but every day he was reminded that he was raising the killer of his wife and also the murderer of hundreds of fellow Konoha Shinobi.

No, Naruto is _not_ the Kyuubi. He is merely the jinchuuriki, a container for the beast that he should be blaming for his wife's death. Naruto was had no choice in the matter, in fact the choice was forced upon him. His young and still fragile shoulders burdened with the weight of being the son of the Yondaime Hokage as well as the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.

Oh the young boy knew of course. He had been told right as he was taught how to read and write. Naruto was also informed of the expectations of being the vessel of a demon, and the heir of Minato. The next day found a changed Naruto, one who had abandoned his toys and books, and instead picked up weapons and well still books but on taijutsu and ninjutsu and every other possible topic he could get his puny hands on.

It was wonderful that Naruto had chosen to be so serious in his training, and he wasn't alone of course. Under the careful supervision of Minato, Jiraiya, Kakashi and Tsunade, Naruto had taken like a fish to water in the Shinobi arts. Even though he was still 5, his teachers believed he could easily best several of the older students already in the Academy. Every single day and every single night, Naruto trained his ass off, with a terrifying fanatical dedication that honestly scared his teachers, but despite their concerns, Naruto himself assured them that this truly was what he wanted.

Minato coughed to get Naruto's attention; the blonde child paused mid-strike and turned to his father. "Tou-san, you're back."

"Yes, Naruto. It's getting late, how about we end the night with a friendly spar. Go and get a sip of water and rest for 15 minutes and we shall start." Minato smiled, and patted Naruto's wet hair, not minding the sweat.

"Hai, tou-san!" Naruto enthusiastically replied before bouncing off to his water bottle and taking a large swig of the refreshing liquid. 15 minutes later, Naruto stood before his father in a well-practiced stance well his father settled into a loose fighting stance.

"Begin!"

At this Naruto sped towards his father, rapidly throwing punches and kicks upon reaching striking distance, all of which were easily avoided and blocked by Minato. It was obviously an extremely uneven match; however Minato was merely testing Naruto's speed.

Delibrately giving Naruto an opening for him to take advantage of, Minato ducked as Naruto gave a high kick before repeating his movements from before and performing a jumped roundhouse kick, worthy of an acrobat, which was countered by Minato who grabbed his small leg and swung him across the room.

Naruto caught himself mid-flight and landed on a hand before leaping back to his feet. Minato smiled, Naruto had a terrifying dexterity that could only be matched by experienced shinobi with years of practice. That combined with a surprising agility for his age gave Naruto acrobatic like movements and attacks. Despite all that Naruto still lacked experience which would have let him see through the deliberate opening and not take the bait.

"Don't allow the enemy to bait you, be patient create your own openings." Naruto nodded once before launching off again. This time right as he was about to reach Minato, he feinted right before leaping in order to knee his father in the face. Minato was not tricked however and reached forward in order to grab Naruto out from the air.

Seeing that his feint had failed, Naruto forgo his initial plan and twisted his body in mid-air, smacking away his father's outstretched hand with one fist and attempted to backhand his father with the other. However his hand was caught an inch away from Minato's face but Naruto immediately pulled his arm back to avoid being captured and thrown again. He pulled his legs up and planted a kick with both legs on Minato but it was blocked by his arm, which Naruto used as a springboard to launch himself back away from Minato. To be able to execute all those movements in a split second said something about the boy's reflexes. Minato nodded in approval "Good, you were able to avoid capture once again. You're learning. But what good was all of that for if you weren't able to land a single blow on your enemy. You're just wasting energy."

Naruto frowned slightly, "If I was bigger that kick would have hurt you!"

Minato laughed at that, "Well too bad you're still five, which means you will have to think of something else."

Growling out, Naruto ran in a semi-circle towards the right flank of his father this time instead. Right when Naruto reached him, he slid forward attempting to kick Minato's ankles. The Yondaime merely jumped and landed right on Naruto with one leg, causing the latter to yell in pain before popping in a poof of smoke. Minato then had to block a drop kick from another Naruto who had jumped down from the ceiling, and with another hand grab the wrist of another Naruto who was attempting to land a solid punch behind his back, before finally kicking away the last Naruto who had reappeared from his genjutsu as he tried to land a kick on Minato's chest. The two Naruto's he had in in his hands poofed in to a cloud of smoke while the final one landed on his feet, nursing his sore torso that received his Father's kick.

"Ninjutsu is not allowed in a Taijutsu spar, Naruto." His father chided.

"Tsk, we are shinobi, we are supposed to use whatever is at our disposal to defeat our enemy." Naruto defiantly retorted.

Minato nodded contemplatively, "That's true, but how am I supposed to judge your taijutsu if you mix in ninjutsu when we spar?" The Yondaime laughed before walking over to Naruto and crouched in front of him. Putting a hand on his shoulder, he smiled "Good job Naruto, you did fine. If I was a genin, the second round would have already knocked me out."

Naruto pouted slightly "Not good enough to beat _you_."

Minato laughed even louder, "Son, you're too far away from beating me just yet. Try again when I am old and in a wheelchair, then you'll probably have a slightly higher chance than today."

The blonde boy growled and stomped his feet, "I'll surpass you soon enough, Tou-san! You'll see!"

The Yondaime chuckled and carried Naruto on his shoulder, "I'll be looking forward to that day then, don't take too long."

"IT WON'T! You won't even know what hit you!" Naruto insisted.

Minato responded by laughing even further "Alright alright, that's enough, time for bed. Go wash up and its lights out in 15 minutes."

Putting his son down, who ran towards the bathroom with a resounding "Hai, Tou-san." Once Minato was alone in the dojo, he looked around to see the results of Naruto's training. On one wall hung several targets as well as dummies filled with straw for target practice. On the targets, several kunai and shuriken were sticking out of them, with a few hitting dead center. He was proud to see that weren't any new holes in the walls behind the targets today, which meant Naruto was improving rapidly. After all he was only permitted to start practicing kunai and shuriken throwing a few weeks back. On the straw dummies, several red circles were painted on them to indicate the lethal points on a human's body. Naruto needed much more work with precision targeting, as only a handful of kunai and shuriken hit their fatal points accurately.

On another part of the large room lay a few scrolls and books. Walking over to them, Minato could see they were mostly about chakra theory, chakra control exercises, weapon theory, stealth and many more. Most of the scrolls and books were borrowed from the extensive library within the estate which Minato kept strictly under lock and key, the only people allowed access being himself and Naruto. Though initially they had to go out and get the beginner guides to most topics as they were too basic to have been kept in the Namikaze library. Except for the ones on Fuuinjutsu, those were very rare as the art of sealing had long since became unpopular, not being as 'flashy' and 'powerful' as ninjutsu. Fuuinjutsu was meant for the patient and dedicated, granting results that more often than not triumphs over any ninjutsu if you mastered the art.

Speaking of which, Naruto's advancement in the field of Ninjutsu was extraordinary. Ever since he, lack of a better word, found his chakra, he had been vigorous with his practice in chakra control. Once he found out that he had extremely large amounts of chakra and the difficulties that came with it, he threw himself into chakra control, and was now able to walk on water despite being only 5 and not yet having completely developed chakra coils. Granted he only had a chuunin level chakra reserve, it was still ridiculous how talented the child was.

Well talent only played a small part in Naruto's prodigious growth. Minato knew that a large factor that drove Naruto to so relentlessly pursue the ninja arts was the pressure that came with being his son and the expectations that were placed on him the moment he was born. Due to that Naruto always had an unceasing drive to succeed and improve. Combined with the knowledge of the terrible war and his responsibilities, his zeal to strive for excellence was only perpetuated and rapidly expanded as he grew. This resulted in Naruto throwing himself into training every day, from first light to the end of each day. Though slightly concerned over the fanatical need to excel Naruto possessed, Minato could not help but be even prouder at Naruto's growth as a Ninja. If this continued, his son would surpass him in no time.

* * *

**AN**: What do you think!? PLEASE I NEED YOUR APPROVAL. Thanks for reading my new story, hoped it was a great first chapter. I know there wasn't much on Naruto in the first chapter, but I promise the next chapter onwards will be much more focused on Naruto! BUT FIRST, let me address some issues first before you guys start to flame me.

I know the biggest issue most of you will have is: Why is Minato such a dick and considered strangling Naruto when he was still an infant. Well, I am trying to build all my characters in a _much more realistic and gritty setting_ than in canon. So no, _Minato won't be a perfect father_, heck _most of the time he won't even be a good person_. But due to _the decisions he has had to make as a hokage_ as well as the _loss of his wife_ has made him much more **unforgiving**.

The next issue: "Naruto is too smart, I can't stand geniuses, make him dumber!" As I have explained above, yes Naruto is extremely talented and would be considered a prodigy. However that alone was not sufficient for him to be what I judge as low-genin level. Combining a _fanatical need to prove himself_, which resulted from an _exceedingly heavy pressure _as _both the Yondaime's son and a Jinchuuriki_ **PLUS** the fact that because of the war, _Konoha is much more militarized_ which means that a _general pressure on all children_(not only Naruto_) to become competent ninjas_ is present, should in my opinion resulted in the current Naruto. Currently, everything that revolves around Naruto's mind is all things shinobi-related. Making friends and playing is completely out of the equation for him. Will that change in the future? Well read on and find out!

Anymore issues you have a problem with? Review and tell me, and I'll try my best to address them in the next chapter. Again sorry for the long hiatus and not updating The Hero's Brother and Shadow of the Snake for such a long time but life has been, is and always will be a big fat bitch who every time you think you have some leisure time to sit down, relax and write a new chapter, she bitch slaps you and throws a brick in your face called responsibility.

One final note, please review and tell me what you think. Should I continue this story or scrape it and update THB or SOTS? Oh! Please tell me if I have missed something or messed up somewhere, any constructive criticism is very much welcomed. Please review if you have any suggestions or ideas, I really appreciate it. It's hard coming up with new fresh ideas for fanfiction that has not been overly used already. THANKS BYE.

_Seriously, review. _

_Well, if you don't, I know where you live. I know where you sleep. And your parents won't recognize you when I am done. (Evil Laughter)_


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